He went to the desk and scribbled something in Arabic on a sheet of paper, sealed that in a blank envelope, and handed it to me.

“Hide it.  You’ve two separate and quite distinct tasks, each more important and, in a way, dangerous than the other.  The principal danger is to me, not you.  If they spot you, my number’s as good as hoisted from that minute.  You mustn’t kid yourself you’re safe for one second until the last card has been played.”

“Who are ’they’?”

“I’m coming to that.  Your first job is to make it possible for me to get the confidence of one or two of these conspirators.  You’re a deaf-and-dumb man—­stone deaf—­with a message for staff-captain Ali Mirza, which you will only deliver to him in person.  Suliman does the talking.  You say nothing.  You simply refuse to hand your message over to any one but me.  They’ll appreciate why a deaf and dumb man should be chosen for treasonable business.  But perhaps you’re scared—­maybe you’d rather reconsider it?  It’s not too late.”

I snorted.

“All right.  These conspirators meet at Djemal’s coffee shop on David Street.  They talk to one another in French, because the proprietor and the other frequenters of the place only know Arabic.  You know French and Arabic enough to understand a sentence here and there, so keep your ears wide open.  I shan’t show up until a Sikh named Narayan Singh tells me that a certain Noureddin Ali is in there.  He’s the bird I’m after.  He’s a dirty little murderer, and I’m going to be right pleasant to him.

“You may have to sit in the place all day waiting for me; but wait until after midnight if you must.  Sooner or later Noureddin Ali is bound to show up.  I shall be hard after him.  If they offer you food, take it.  Eat with your fingers.  Eat like a pig.  Lick the plate, if you like.  The nearer mad you seem to be, the safer you are.  After I get there, hang around until I give you money.  Then beat it.”

“Where to?  I can’t go to my room at the hotel in this disguise.”

“I’ve thought of that.  You know Cosmopolitan Oil Davey, of course?  He lives at the hotel.  I’ll get word to him that he may expect a messenger from me after dark tonight.  He’ll leave word with the porter downstairs, who’ll take you to Davey’s room.  You can tell Davey absolutely anything.  He’s white.”

“Well, I think I can execute that maneuver.  What’s task number two?”

“To sit on the TNT!  But one thing at a time is enough.  Let’s attend to this one first.  Ah!  Here comes Templeton!”

“Damn you, Grim!” said a calm voice in the doorway.  A tall, lean man in major’s uniform with the blue tabs of the medical staff strode in.  He had the dried-out look of the Sudan, added to the self-reliance that comes of deciding life and death issues at a moment’s notice.

“The hospital is crowded with patients, and here you immobilize me for half a morning.  I can’t pretend to set a compound fracture in ten minutes, you know!  Why couldn’t you break your neck and have me sign a death certificate?”